First off the title of this post is a lie. I will not be outlining 10 different ways that Steve Almond used humor in his story. I'm hoping the minor comedic value it has will overshadow any disappointment. In fact you;re probably happy it won't be ten sections long, it would be a bit of a stretch to finish that and would make this whole thing arduous to read.
2. Something Real
OK so even though this whole list thing may not be completely accurate, in the actual story it does have a fairly significant function. The sections are all pretty much the same in terms of content structure: first he is scared and confused about how he should act, then he acts in what could be a proper or improper manner, then he thinks he kills his baby, then he's somewhat reassured that he hasn't. If the story was one straight block of these instances without a break, it would be way too oppressively similar paragraph after paragraph. By breaking it up, and adding a descriptive title to each section-head, he makes this more episodic and thus funnier because it's easy to see how each one is essentially the same, without him seeing it. I think that's some form of irony, maybe dramatic, is dramatic irony funny? Who am I to judge.
3.Apology
So I know that itself (point 2) is fairly long and block-like, probably boring too. I'm sorry for deceiving you into thinking that this numbered section thing would be any better than a regular post.
4. Self-Deprecation
I'm sure Steve Almond is not a completely incompetent person. He does do a pretty good job of making us (as readers (I guess I'm making the assumption that I'm not the only one)) believe that he is somewhat of an idiot, a caring, genuinely terrified, neurotic idiot but still kind of an idiot. This is not only funny, but makes the story much more endearing too. He gets us on his side and lets everyone feel the fear and anxiety he does, grounding the humor in reality so its not just a farce or whatever.
5. Self-Defecation
Another title pun, this one equally as shitty (hahaha) as the first. He puts poop jokes in the story. Everyone likes poop jokes. Simple as that.
6. Not much More
His personal experiences melded well with what seemed like the actual events. He put the brief perspectives of his wife and the nurses to counter him as an unreliable narrator. This way we could see the whole picture in a true lens (from both perspectives).
7. That's it
Only got to 7. Still pretty good though.
hahaha I like your humor in this post. I like how you set it up to mimic Almond's list, adding humorous cmments, explanations, and puns... who doesn't like puns? I agree with all of what you had to say, especially concerning the importance of the separation of stories, and the basic structure of each one (hes scared, kills baby, we find out he doesnt actually kill baby).
ReplyDeleteyour post was indeed very humorous. I was a bit relieved to see your list wasn't as long as it initially looked because not that I didn't enjoy Almond's list I just didn't know if yours could match up! it was a good effort though! I think you're right everyone does enjoy a good poop joke here and there i also like the wit and puns you incorporated into your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex and Victoria-I definitely chuckled to myself reading this post. I think that's a really smart way to write about the piece. When I was reading I was thinking about the same things you mention, but I think you laid them out and categorized them very well. Your post helped me with the biggest question I had after reading the piece: why is this so damn funny? Both through how you used imitation (at least I'm assuming that was your intention?) and how you talked about the themes really addressed that. That combined with a very nicely done poop pun made for a fun read haha.
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